Another Blow for Absa: Key Witness in Billion-Shilling Suit Joins Rival Bank

Absa Bank has been dealt yet another major blow after  a key witness in the Sh1.5 billion compensation suit by transport firm New Mega Africa resigned to join a rival bank.

Sophie Omondi resigned from the bank and is headed to one of the competitor Banks as the Relationship Manager based in Mombasa.

She was nominated as the key witnesses alongside Corporate Credit Manager Supporting Business Banking  Wyclife Makori who is reportedly planning to resign as well after the Bank backtracked on deal they had entered into to shield the Bank against legal liability in consideration for a promotion and transfer to the head office.

This is  a continuation of a series of resignations experienced at the bank that has been in the spotlight for bad reasons in the past three years; with the bank embroiled in  the compensation suit over data breach.

Head of SME Susan Situma had previously  tendered her resignation after she differed with  Elizabeth Wasuna on how SME clients were being treated by the bank.

But the biggest dilemma for the bank is how to navigate the court battle with New Mega Africa with the case set to resume on 17th and 18th of November,2025.

Sophie and Makori are vital for the bank in the case given the fact that Makori was specifically accused of colluding with senior officials at the bank to share information about New Mega Africa to third parties, the Bank opted to introduce Sophie as a ploy to cover up for Makori. 

Sophie has continuously protested her inclusion into the matter citing the fact that she was never the primary relationship manager for New Mega Africa and that Makori was the one who was at the center of all the mess that New Mega Africa was got in by Absa. 

She claims that the claimant never mentioned her anywhere in their accusations against the bank for soliciting money, leakage of confidential information,  blackmail etc. 

She told the Bank she was not willing to subject her professional reputation at the expense of the Bank’s negligence and unethical business culture which has gone out of control in Coast Region. 

The Bank has abated numerous unethical conducts from sexual offers to clients for business (perfected in Nyali Branch), booking of fictitious loans in consideration for kickbacks from clients with full disclosure of the consequences to clients,  sale of client confidential financial information to business rivals, KRA, spouses/girlfriends,  scammers and cybercrime hitmen and lately one of the staff members who opted to resign Dan Oluoch Olale who quickly resigned after an old lady client leaving in the diaspora wrote to the Bank alleging that Dan had conned her Shs 19 million having lied to her that he would open a wealth management account for her to collect rent from her properties in Nairobi. 

Dan with full knowledge of the Branch Manager Serah Muthui opened a separate account in Equity Bank without the client’s knowledge and transferred the rental collections there. 

When the client raised the complaint,  Sarah Muthui whose brother Moses Muthui initiated a transfer of Dan from Nyali Branch to Diani Branch to protect herself.

The rot in Absa Bank is so bad that it’s sister Company Absa Life Assurance Kenya Ltd is being considered for sale or closure after it became apparent that 80% of the life insurance policies are being cancelled by clients after 3 years citing cases of them being misadvised by the staff members who are motivated to sell unethically owing to hefty insurance brokerage commissions that they earn when they sell the insurance policy as against selling bank products.  

The syndicate is so bad that regional managers working in cahoots with Branch Managers have a list of all customers with bank balances above Shs 5 million which they share with specific sales people to misadvise customers to sign up for insurance policies disguised as wealth management products promising returns as high as 20%. Clients do not get policy statements thereafter only to learn later that they were sold insurance.  

The Branch managers demand 70% of all commissions earned to be given to them failure to which the initiate disciplinary and termination against employees. The regional managers are in turn given 40%. Nyali Branch is notorious for this.

On the New Mega Africa Ltd matter, things could be intense given the High Court in Mombasa had previously  allowed a former employee to file a witness statement in the Sh1.5 billion suit.

Justice Julius K. Ng’arng’ar found no grounds to block Evans Wekesa Murumba to file his witness statement.

The judge indicated the weight of Murumba’s statement and found no grounds to declare it irrelevant.

Mr. Murumba served as the Coast Region Head of Commercial Affairs for Absa bank and was the boss to Wycliffe makori and Sophie Omondi.

Murumba, through his lawyers had initially made an application dated 6th December, 2023 where he explained that his image stands to be damaged by virtue of the court proceedings.

“There is inherent risk that the court may proceed with the suit without the applicant/ intended interest party being heard despite being mentioned adversely in the main suit,” the application reads.

He claimed that the case may have an effect in his civic and political life.

In the affidavit, Murumba disclosed that he had an employment contract with the bank  between April 2019 to June 2022 when tendered his resignation to venture into politics.

His work included overseeing the Bank/ Client relationship with clients where he admits he  had several engagements with New Mega Africa  and the bank’s senior officials at the Coast.

His affidavit also links Wycliffe Makori for working with other employees to manipulate and swindle clients.

A separate witness account from  New Mega Africa also linked Makori and other employees for having received money in form of bribes to facilitate release of loans applied.

The longstanding battle saw the  Court of Appeal refuse to set up a three judge bench to hear the bank’s application seeking to overturn an injunction stopping it from auctioning property belonging to New Mega Africa.  

Absa bank has for long been  hit by similar issues of data breach leading to the loss of funds and customer confidentiality. 

The behavior saw the bank’s hierarchy  sack Nkrumah Road  Branch manager Thomas Macharia Mwangi.

This development follows an earlier incident involving another employee, identified as Serah Muthui, who was accused earlier this year of alleged sex related scandals.

According to a detailed letter dated February 14, 2024, and received at the Managing Director’s office on the same day, Elizabeth Mulwa Kinyanjui accused Serah of destroying her marriage and allegedly taking away her belongings while she was away.

Serah was reportedly overheard during one of the company’s events,making controversial remarks about her former colleagues, claiming that the recently resigned staff were “lazy and failed to use their bodies and money wisely.”

She went on to allegedly advise her fellow employees to “be smarter, use whatever means necessary even witchcraft or bribery of senior management if they want to survive.”. a source narrated

Subsequently,the  Employment and Labour Relations Court in Mombasa ordered the bank  to pay Thomas Macharia Mwangi Ksh. 2,300,000 in unpaid bonuses for the year 2022. 

The court also mandated Absa to implement a 13% salary increment for Mr Macharia from January to May 2023, as per an earlier agreement, for his role as Nkrumah branch manager.

The suspension stemmed from allegations of Mr Macharia’s involvement in irregular overdraft facilities at the Nkrumah Road branch, an action reportedly spearheaded by a junior officer suspected of fraud and data breaches involving client information.

The Nairobi court on November 9, 2022 issued a decree, ordering the bank to pay the transport firm billions for allegedly leaking confidential information to third parties, causing the company’s credit ratings to suffer.

The case took  a new twist after the court agreed to admit an application by Evans Murumba.

In the suit, Wycliffe Makori is specifically blamed  for working with other employees to share its details with a Kenya National Highways Authority officer identified as Jared Makori.